Saturday Sun
by LemonStar
Summary: ..Daryl/Beth.. A follow-up one shot to "Bump". She then looked to Daryl. "Will you be alright with all three girls for a little bit?" She asked her husband. It was an unnecessary question to ask, she knew, but she asked it anyway – just in case.


…

As they finished breakfast at their wooden square table in the kitchen, Lucy announced that she was going to spend her morning outside with her bucket of sidewalk chalk.

"Me, too!" Holly immediately joined in because if the three-year-old wasn't throwing a toddler tantrum, she was following after her big sister, wanting to do everything that Lucy did.

"Can I do that?" Lucy asked her parents.

"Don't know," Daryl was the one to answer as he picked up his coffee cup, but paused before taking a sip, looking at the six-year-old sitting across from him. "Can you?"

"_May_ I?" Lucy corrected herself and Beth smiled around the rim of her grapefruit juice glass.

"May I?" Holly parroted.

Beth found it _extremely_ entertaining that her husband, with his thick southern drawl and who rarely added the "g" to the ends of his words, was teaching their daughter proper English. It was sweet and she knew that while Daryl was proud of being a redneck, he didn't want their daughters to be like him. He hadn't told Beth as much, but Beth knew Daryl well enough to know anyway.

(She didn't think there was anything wrong with being a redneck, but that would clearly be a conversation for another day.)

"You can," Daryl confirmed with a head nod. "What are the rules?"

"Stay in the driveway or front yard. Don't go walking off. If I see a stranger coming, get in the house until you or mama make sure it's safe again," Lucy recited and Daryl nodded as he listened, making sure she didn't miss one.

They lived in a small town, Scott, in the far southwest corner of the state, that wasn't even a dot on the map. Everyone knew everyone, but that didn't stop Daryl from watching the ID crime channel on television and letting his imagination run wild. He knew Lucy would be safe in their driveway, playing, but he also knew bad things could happen anywhere and everywhere and there was nothing wrong with making sure his kids were aware of it.

(He already planned on teaching all of them a few moves in self-defense when they were older because he and Beth had three daughters and nothing would ever happen to them.)

"Oh, Poppy," Beth laughed then and leaning over in her chair to the highchair next to her, she picked up the bib around the seven-month-old's neck to begin cleaning her face of the mashed bananas that was now all over it.

The baby just gave a gurgling laugh and picked up another slice of banana from her plastic bowl.

Once they are done eating, the girls carried their bowls to the sink as they were supposed to do and standing on her step stool at the sink, Lucy rinsed both dishes out before handing them down to Holly, who placed them in the dishwasher (which Beth will have to do again because Holly is doing it all wrong, but for now, both she and Daryl are teaching the girls about chores and responsibilities and right now, it's about them attempting to do things and getting them in the habit of doing them rather than being anal about them doing it absolutely correct.)

"Done, mama!" Both girls then informed her, Lucy hopping down from the stool and Holly bringing up the door of the dishwasher – a bit too hard.

Beth smiled and stood up, hefting Poppy up into her arms. "Good girls. Now go on upstairs and brush your teeth so you can start your day."

Both girls instantly turned and ran from the kitchen, their hurried feet heard on the stairs a moment later. Daryl stood up from the table, draining the last of his coffee, and he set the mug down on the counter at the coffee machine so it was known that he would be getting himself another cup later.

He kissed Poppy on the head and the baby smiled up at him and he then kissed Beth on her head.

"You gonna be gone long?" Daryl asked.

"I shouldn't be." Beth grabbed a clean spit rag from the top of the pile nearby and then sitting Poppy down on the counter, she wet the corner of the rag with water and then began cleaning the baby's face. "It was just such a crazy day yesterday with so many intakes, I didn't have time to file things away the way I like and then Monday is visitor's day so I know I won't have time then either." Beth smiled at the baby with her now-clean face, and Poppy giggled, lifting a hand to point a finger to Beth's face. She giggled more when Beth pretended to bite it. She then looked to Daryl. "Will you be alright with all three girls for a little bit?" She asked her husband.

It was an unnecessary question to ask, she knew, but she asked it anyway – just in case.

Unlike how television sitcoms liked to portray husbands, Beth's was more than capable of taking care of the home and their three children while she was gone for an hour or two. She would have offered to take one of the girls with her, but working the intake desk of the Juvenile County Jail, no matter how far removed she is from the actual jail, wasn't the place for their little daughters.

Daryl smirked at the question like she knew he would. "Yeah, Beth. 'm sure I can handle our kids for a couple of hours," he replied and Beth smiled, hefting Poppy back up into her arms.

"I guess the question should be if you can handle the girls _and_ Lemon."

"No one can handle that damn cat."

Beth laughed and they left the kitchen, Daryl following her up the stairs. She carried Poppy into the bedroom she and Holly shared to get her dressed and Daryl went into the girls' bathroom to watch over them as they brushed their teeth, helping Holly with hers.

"Done, daddy!" Lucy announced a minute later, having spit into the sink, but toothpaste still all around her mouth. She returned her pink toothbrush to the proper hole in the holder.

Daryl smiled and wiped her face for her. "Alrigh'. Well, I guess it's time for you to get your chalk then. And you put your shoes on. Still too cool outside for you to be goin' barefoot. And you stay in our driveway or I'm whoopin' your butt." He looked back to Holly and pulled the purple toothbrush from her mouth. "Spit."

Standing on the stool at the sink, Holly stood on her toes and leaned over, making sure she got it right into the sink and spit.

"Girl, what happened to your hair already? Your mama just fixed it for you," Daryl said, standing up straight and as Holly stood on the stool in front of him, he took out her messy braid and began pleating it again, Holly giggling and Daryl smiling at her in the mirror.

Daryl admitted that he hardly thought of his brother anymore. When Merle first got sentenced and locked up, Daryl had visited him as often as he could make the drive to Tennessee, but visits became few and far in between when he met Beth and fell in love with her. And then, they got married and had the girls and the last time he saw his brother, things were said in that prison visitor's room that neither were willing to apologize for or take back.

(Daryl felt like he had spent most of his life, apologizing for one thing or another – things that he shouldn't have had to apologize for – and he was sick of it.)

In the beginning, Beth would occasionally ask about his brother. Merle had gotten transferred to Idaho and Beth's brother, Shawn lived out in Montana and Beth was understandably curious about the brother-in-law she had never met; Daryl not even having a picture of him around somewhere.

Beth had learned, quickly, that all questions about Daryl's brother would go unanswered and sometimes, it would lead to getting Daryl angry and he having to leave the house to cool off. Beth didn't need to know that his brother killed two people in cold blood over a drug deal. Their daughters don't need to know that someone like that is in their family.

For years, Daryl had done everything he could to make excuses for his brother and explain why Merle was the way he was. But Merle had killed two people – whether they had been good people themselves or not hadn't been the point – and he didn't even care. The judge had seen that; looked at Merle's long record and his complete lack of remorse and sentenced Merle to prison for the rest of his life.

And it took Daryl years to realize that maybe his brother just wasn't a good guy.

Daryl didn't really think of Merle anymore – and didn't feel guilty over it either – but sometimes, times like this, when he was taking care of one of his and Beth's three daughters, fixing their hair or helping them with a pair of tights they were wearing or attending his countless tea party, Daryl would think of Merle and wonder what his brother would think about having three young nieces.

"All fixed." Daryl fixed the end of Holly's blonde braid; all three girls having blonde hair just like their mama. "Now go and get your shoes and you can go outside with your sister."

Holly leapt down from the stool and went racing from the bathroom for her bedroom, Beth coming out with Poppy, now dressed, as Holly whooshed past her.

"She's all set." Beth passed Poppy into Daryl's arms. "One hour. Two tops. And I'll stop at Magnolia's on the way home so I can get us something for lunch."

"Sounds good." Daryl leaned down and gave her a kiss. "Be careful."

She might have been working at the jail since before Lucy was born and he knew her intake desk was safely away from the actual cells where the juveniles were held, but that didn't stop him from worrying about her. His wife was a pretty, delicate woman and new people who found out what she did was always surprised. She certainly looked like someone who had never seen the inside of a jail before let alone someone who worked in one.

"Always," Beth smiled up at him. "Good luck," she then said with laughter in her tone.

"I know you think you're tough shit 'cause you were the one who carried 'em for the nine months, but I can take care of these three without you," he told her with a smirk and Beth just laughed. He looked to Poppy. "Tell your mama I can." He gave her a bounce and the baby just gurgled with a giggle.

"Excuse me, mama!" Holly exclaimed suddenly, running in between her parents and tearing off down the stairs as fast as she could, almost tripping over herself more than once.

"Holly, hold onto that railing!" Beth ordered.

"Slow down, girl!" Daryl called after her. "You're gonna break your neck and 'm not takin' care of you if you do!"

Just as Holly reached the bottom step, the front screen door was thrown open and Lucy came running back in, breathless. She looked up and saw her mama and daddy at the top of the stairs.

"Stranger!" She let them know while pointing back outside.

Frowning, Daryl came down the stairs with Poppy, Beth following right behind. They both looked out the screen door to see what Lucy had seen that had her running back inside, her bucket of chalk laying abandoned in the driveway.

A teenage boy on his skateboard then rolled past their house, earbuds shoved into his ears.

"Oh, Lucy, " Beth smiled down at her. "That's not what your daddy-"

"Good girl," Daryl said, also looking down to her. "Jus' what you're supposed to do. Now coast is clear. You and your sister can get on back out there."

Lucy burst into a smile, proud of herself, and turning, she shoved the screen door open again, bolting outside, Holly hurrying after her.

Beth smiled, watching after them, and then turned to Daryl, "Have a good morning," she said, pushing herself up on her toes, and she kissed Poppy's head before looking to him, and Daryl lowered his head down, meeting her lips with his.

His lips twitched a little in a smile. "You, too." He kissed her again. "Be careful."

She smiled and her eyes – their daughters all having her big, blue eyes, too – seemed to be twinkling. "You, too."

…

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**A very random idea I had to get out. THANK YOU for reading!**


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